‘Chain of events’ and poor rail network, reasons given for deadly train crash

Catalan government says lack of public funding could have led to the incident while for Madrid it is too early to know

The two trains that crashed in Castellgalí (by Norma Vidal)
The two trains that crashed in Castellgalí (by Norma Vidal) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

February 9, 2019 04:47 PM

A “chain of events” and the poor state of the railway network are being considered as the primary causes of the deadly train crash in Catalonia. The Spanish government says it is “too early” to know what led to the incident, but it believes the human factor could explain the accident.

However, the Catalan government also stressed that the lack of public funding played a key role in the train crash. The Catalan minister of Territory defended that the tragedy “could have been avoided” if the railway network was better financed by the Central government.

The train derailment in central Catalonia on Friday evening left the driver dead, and 12 people injured. Three of them are still in a serious state this Saturday, according to the Health Department.

The incident occurred two months after a train accident in the same area left one dead and 49 people injured.